Ian McCulloch at the 2011 Paul Hunter Classic
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Born |
Walton-le-Dale, Preston |
28 July 1971
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Sport country | England |
Nickname | Preston Potter |
Professional | 1992–2012 |
Highest ranking | 16 (2005/6) |
Career winnings |
£608,110 €1,600 A$500 |
Highest break | 145 (British Open 2003) |
Century breaks | 105 |
Best ranking finish | Runner-up (British Open 2002, Grand Prix 2004) |
Ian McCulloch (born 28 July 1971) is a former English professional snooker player from Walton-Le-Dale, Preston, Lancashire. He is known for his ability to grind opponents down through protracted safety exchanges and disjointed breakbuilding. He compiled 105 century breaks in his career.
McCulloch turned professional in 1992, and after steadily climbing up the rankings for many years, he reached the quarter-finals of a ranking event for the first time in the 1999 Welsh Open. He also made his debut in the Crucible stages of the 1999 World Championship.
Like Barry Pinches he entered his best form in his early 30s. He reached two ranking event finals – the 2002 British Open (losing to Paul Hunter) and the 2004 Grand Prix in his home town, (losing to Ronnie O'Sullivan).
He beat David Gray to qualify for the 2003 World Championship in a clash between players who share their names with musicians, and went on to reach the quarter finals in 2004. He went one stage further in 2005, losing 14–17 to Matthew Stevens in the semi-final, beating Mark Williams and Alan McManus en route. He was ranked number 16 in the rankings in 2005/2006 season, which would normally guarantee a seeding in the ranking tournaments, but was unluckily pushed out by Shaun Murphy, who as the current World Champion was not in top 16 of the rankings, and was seeded before him in tournaments.